Among the Stars
by missakat
Summary: Ford makes a mistake in assuming the long-dead alien technology was, in fact, dead. Space fic.
1. Chapter 1

**If you'd like to see the canon events prior to the start of this fic, watch "Dipper and Mabel vs. The Future", and stop at the moment Ford is shot by the security drone.**

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 **Among the Stars: Chapter 1**

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It was getting dark by the time Mabel heard the back door open. She was curled up on her bed, head tucked away into the soft folds of sweater town. But for once her attention was not focused inwards, but listening for the sounds of her brother coming home. She'd given up on contacting him on the walkie-talkie hours ago, after receiving nothing but static since noon. He had to return home eventually, and she'd settled herself in for the wait.

She hugged her legs tighter, shifting towards an upright position as she listened for the hurried footsteps of her brother tripping up the stairs. She waited. And waited. She heard the heavy footsteps of Grunkle Ford, and the metal hiss of the vending machine opening up. She heard the volume of the television quiet for a moment, and then rise back as the door to the lab slammed closed.

She waited a few more minutes, but still no Dipper.

Mabel peeped her head out from her sweater, groaning a bit as the setting sun blinded her. The room was stained red with the dying light. Mabel glanced at her brother's empty bed, unmade since this morning.

Mabel dangled her legs off of the edge of her bed, listening for one more moment for the arrival of her brother. She pushed her arms back into the sleeves of her sweater. The floor creaked as she hopped off the bed and walked into the hall. The shack was quiet, eerily red from the sun.

"Grunkle Stan?" Mabel poked her head into the living room, where her great uncle was lost in some old-timey soap opera. The movie seemed to be reaching its climax, but Grunkle Stan's mind appeared to be somewhere else. He lacked the usual fervor he had for the shows, and sat quietly staring into the bit of nothing right above the television. She called his name again, which brought him out of his daze enough to catch his attention.

"What's up, sweetie?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Have you seen Dipper?"

"Nah, I haven't seen him. Poindexter's back though, maybe he's with him?"

Mabel nodded, and Grunkle Stan gave her a smile.

"Why don't you go check? I'm sure they're almost done with their nerd stuff."

"Yeah…" Mabel replied, and as she passed Grunkle Stan he ruffled her hair.

The code to the vending machine was the same as the day she and Dipper first found the hidden lab. The door opened with a hiss, just enough for her to slip past. The hallway was eerie, almost more so than the first time she'd been there. Last time, she had Soos and Dipper to back her up. Now, she walked down the stairs alone.

The elevator was just as nerve wracking as their first trip, and she stood clutching the edge of her sweater, praying the creaking sounds were normal. The door slid open to the lab, lit only by blinking buttons and quiet screens. The window to the portal room was closed off with a curtain. The desk was lit by a single lamp.

Grunkle Ford was standing at the desk. His body kept its contents from view. He turned as she entered.

"Mabel?" he asked. His face was shadowed, and for a moment a chill ran through Mabel's system. He was alone.

"Grunkle Ford? Where's Dipper?"

"You shouldn't be down here," he said, his voice strained.

"Where's Dipper?" she asked, and he didn't look at her. He looked back at the desk and heaved a heavy breath. The desk light flashed across his glasses, and her heart thudded in her chest.

"Mabel…" he started, but suddenly she only wanted him to stop.

"Something happened."

She clutched her sweater harder, taking a small step back as she frantically searched his face.

"No." she said, and Grunkle Ford stepped towards her. She was shaking her head as he kneeled, a solemn expression on his face.

"Dipper's gone, Mabel."  
"No. No way."

"I couldn't get to him in time. I'm sorry Mabel."

Her breath was starting to catch in her lungs, and the forced vacancy was leaving her light headed.

"He helped me save the world, Mabel-" Grunkle Ford reached out a hand, with clear intent to comfort, but before it could come in contact with her shoulder she smacked it aside. She could feel the tears brimming her lashes, and she could see his wide-eyed shock.

The shocked silence seemed to last forever, but it was only seconds before the confused tears started to fall.

"Mabel…" Grunkle Ford started, reaching for her once again, but she darted from his grasp, back into the elevator.

He tried to lunge after her, but the doors closed just before his fingers, and she watched with tear-blurred eyes as the window rose above his pale face. She stood in the elevator, hands clenching and unclenching on the edge of her sweater. The door dinged, almost cheerily, and she stumbled into the hallway. She tripped on the corner of the open vending machine and sprawled onto the floor. It took Mabel a minute to pick herself up, and even then she hardly got to her knees. Her knees stung with the distant pain of rug burn, but with her world crashing down around her, she barely noticed.

She sat, staring at the floor beneath her and watching the accumulation of little drips, until the elevator door opened behind her. She jolted out of her daze, darting out the door before Ford could reach the gift shop.

The sun was low on the horizon, turning the forest into alternating bands of light and dark. As she slipped into the trees, she distantly heard the slam of the back door, and Ford calling for her. She kept running, with no idea where she was going but away from him.

Finally, the uneven forest floor beat out her frantic flight, and for the second time she found herself falling to the unforgiving ground. She pulled herself to her feet, but found she could hardly make it to a nearby tree. She slumped against it, pulling her arms into her sweater and tugging up her collar.

"Dipper… Where are you? Grunkle Ford can't be… right."

Tucked against the tree, Mabel cried for her brother.

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It was cold and dark, and the only thing that was quieting his panic was the increasing chill. The glass (or what looked like glass, it couldn't be glass, could it? it was strong enough to resist the force that broke it out of the atmosphere, it couldn't be just glass), was cold beneath him, and he could do little against it but huddle up in his vest. His thoughts were getting scattered, lost to the cold and the shock of where he was. He'd spent hours pounding on the windows, at the panel imbedded in the metal behind him, until his hands were cracked and bleeding and the cold had sapped the feeling from his limbs. He didn't know where he was going. It was cold, and he didn't know what to do.

Images reeled in his mind, his last moments before being confined in a glass bubble and shot out of the atmosphere.

It was a mistake, really, the fault of the malfunctioning magnet gun. The jolt from its activation and the following clunk of the lifted plate nearly knocked him off balance. He'd flushed with embarrassment as he tried to pry the metal plate from the gun, flustered with his great uncle's offer, and how quickly he did something embarrassing in front of the man. There was no way he would maintain his offer of apprenticeship after seeing how clumsy Dipper was. Dipper was completely surprised by Ford's sudden praise and the shining goo stuck to the plate, and awed at how dumb luck could turn a moment of shame into one of hope.

The small moment of triumph quickly turned sour, as he recalled the sudden fear as something moved within the long dead ship. Grunkle Ford stood before him. Grunkle Ford was there to protect him. But not even Grunkle Ford could protect him from his own fear. And, in the heat of the moment, his hero couldn't protect himself from the concentrated fire of laser beams.

The shot burned into Ford's shoulder with enough force to knock him off his feet. Dipper cried for him as he fell. A heavy clang echoed through the metal corridors as Ford's skull impacted with the floor, punctuated by a distant crash as the damaged drone fell into the depths of the hall. Dipper scrambled to his feet, darting towards the limp form of his uncle.

"Great Uncle Ford?" he asked, voice cracking with fear. The man's eyes were shut, knocked out cold by the impact with the ground. Dipper grabbed at his shoulder, hands shaking as he tried to wake up his uncle.

Behind him, the glass orb of the security drone split open, metal arms snaking towards him. Compared to his uncle's sudden unconsciousness, Dipper's own jumping heart was like a shining beacon to its sensors. The arms were on him before he could stand, easily wrapping around his skinny arms and dragging him back towards the open slice of the drone's glass body. He fought, trying to rip free of the metal grip, but the glass bubble sealed shut with him inside.

"Great Uncle Ford!" he screamed, and his heart jumped with hope as Ford stirred, a low groan escaping his lips.

But too quickly the orb was moving, rocketed him away from the prone form of his grunkle. The twists and turns of the corridors were far from smooth, and Dipper had to brace himself against the glass to avoid slamming into it.

His mind was blank with panic, but as the bubble locked into position on a sleek metal ship, a sudden realization gave him new vigor. He pressed himself up against the glass, pounding at its surface, screaming for his Grunkle Ford and praying that the man would appear at the entrance to the tunnel the bubble pulled him through. And when the transport broke ground level and shot into the sky, he waited for his Grunkle to appear. Maybe he would hijack one of the ships and fly it after him. His hands shook as Gravity Falls became ever smaller below him, and watched as the continent began to shrink. He nearly blacked out when the ship left the atmosphere, bounced around in the bubble as he was.

It wasn't until the Earth became a little blue dot in the vast expanse of space that he realized there was no one coming to rescue him. Only one ship had left the abandoned alien craft, and he was its unwilling passenger.

Now he was cold, and alone, and scared. He had one last though before he succumbed to the dark. He pulled a walkie-talkie from out of his vest, and listened carefully for any sound. He pressed the button, sucking in a shaky breath before speaking.

"Mabel? Are you there?"  
Silence answered him.

Dipper Pines, exhausted, frozen, and far from home, closed his eyes.

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 **Hello people!**

 **Hope you enjoyed the first chapter of my new fic! :) I've had this idea rolling around for a while, and I thought it was finally time to put it out there!**

 **I'll provide a bit more info about this fic in the next update. This chap is more of an intro, the next will get more into the nitty gritty of what the rest of the story will be.**

 **Thanks for reading! See you next time!**

 **-Missa**


	2. Chapter 2

System Date 2402719

Log 6391

I told Cap not to leave the damned ship on autopilot, cause its easy access for the little buggers to take the wheel. Trip nearly ran us into some space junk today. It was one of those old automated prison pods. Usually we'd cruise right around each other, but some old tech doesn't have any interactive flight paths built into their autopilot systems. This thing's _ancient._

I'm not well versed with prison pods. I've never worked on a ship that's had cargo worthy enough for that sort of protection. Things tend to fritz out anyway; decide random crewmembers are threatening 'cause they get freaked when the things appear suddenly. It's a hell of an awkward lawsuit to get workers back from prison when they're carted off willy-nilly by automated tech.

Still, sometimes they have interesting stuff in them, and at least we can salvage some parts. Maybe there'll be some rich passenger who got carted off and we can get a reward for bringing them back in. We're flying a bit further out than usual, we have to take what we can get. We're pulling it in now.

-Z

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Dipper was surprised when he woke up. For a moment his own surprise confused him, his memories kept fuzzy by his unfocused vision and the slight haze of a headache rising in the back of his skull. He blinked, trying to rid himself of the fuzz, and found himself staring at a clean white ceiling. There was a soft hum in the air, accompanied by a slow pulse he quickly recognized as his own heartbeat. He couldn't pinpoint the intense feeling of wrong that coursed through him.

He sucked in a deep breath, and the new sound in the humming room startled its second occupant into action. He turned his head at the soft rustle of fabric, shutting his eyes tightly as the movement led to an aching protest from his body. As the feeling passed, Dipper blinked up at the figure clothed head to toe in white fabric. Even their face was covered, by a thick white veil tucked into a tight hood.

They turned from the counter and crept forward slowly, head cocked as if confused at his awakening. Dipper continued to stare wide eyed at them and, as if realizing he truly was awake, the figure clapped its gloved hands. They darted over, checked the monitors above his head, and then ran out of the room. The door opened and closed automatically with a strange, almost metallic suction sound.

The room now empty, Dipper sat up with some difficulty. His whole body was weirdly sore, his movements stiff and off kilter, as if he'd been sitting in one spot for too long. He flexed his fingers, trying to regain some movement. His knuckles were scabbed, a detail his eyes suddenly wouldn't leave.

 _How long was I asleep?_ He wondered, and then paused, for the thought seemed wrong somehow. He hadn't been asleep, had he? He didn't remember falling asleep. He pushed his palms into his eyes, trying to work past the haze of exhaustion. If he hadn't been asleep, why was he waking up?

Colors flashed behind his eyes in response to the force of his palms, and cold familiarity of the fading bursts of light jump-started his memory. He froze, a chill stealing into his bones as he remembered the darkness that enveloped him. His hands trembled, suddenly overcome by the ghost of cool, unyielding glass. The image of the Earth slowly disappearing into the darkness jumped to the forefront of his mind. Anxiety clawed at his throat at the thought.

Dipper started as the pace of the machine's steady beeps beside him suddenly jumped, in time with the pressure building in his chest. The sound gave him an anchor to the real world, and he once again looked around the room. The room was entirely white, almost sterile.

"Is this a hospital?" Dipper murmured, hope blooming in his chest.

 _Am I back on Earth? Did Great Uncle Ford somehow save me? Was this all just a bad dream?_ The questions raced through Dipper's mind, in time with his speeding heartbeat. He gripped the sheets, trying to keep his emotions in control.

The door opened with its strange metallic whisper and Dipper's head whipped around. The white clothed figure re-entered, and questions began to bubble at the tip of his tongue. They froze when the next person entered. Dipper, to his credit, did not scream.

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The creature was monstrously tall, bending down in order to move through the door. Its head was more animal than human, with a blunt snout and large black eyes. It had a long neck connected to a slim torso, which sported slender arms. It entered the room but, from what Dipper could see, the two sturdy legs stepping past the doorframe were only the first pair.

He hardly reacted beyond gaping at the creature. He couldn't attribute this sudden silence to his own strength of mind, however, but rather a dazed shock that froze his system. Dipper's brain, which had been overworking itself mere moment before, had suddenly decided that simply shutting off was a better course of action. Only a single thought pervaded his stunned silence.

 _I'm not on Earth._

He stared unseeing as a third alien entered the room. Dipper retreating to the back of his mind while his mental processes ground to a halt.

The white-clothed person gestured excitedly at him, while the other two looked on. The third alien to enter the room was another humanoid, but its features were also hidden behind a sheer veil. It was abnormally tall and slender, though short in comparison to the multiple-legged alien. A strange branching structure protruded like horns from its head, as if someone had attached a fibrous salmon pink bush to a pair of antlers.

The tall alien made a sound, wispy and guttural. Dipper could do nothing but stare, as it repeated the same sound. Its dark lips parted on sharp teeth in what could only be a sneer. It snarled at the white-clothed alien, who continued frantically gesturing. The room filled with more hissing as the argument grew, until the slender alien placed a long hand on the snarling alien's arm. The other two quieted as the slender alien approached the bed. Their movements were slow and cautious, in an obvious attempt to not cause Dipper any more distress.

They gently sat on the bed, and Dipper pulled his legs in slightly at the movement. The alien stopped and then, when Dipper did nothing more to warn back their movements, reached a hand out. He stared at it, reminded of the sci-fi movies he sometimes watched with Mabel. Their skin was pale lavender blue, their three fingers long and slightly bulbous at the ends. At the backs of their hands the colors deepened into purple, and were freckled with bits of lighter pink. As the alien gently took Dipper's hands, all he could think was that Mabel would love those colors.

" _Hello."_ Dipper jumped when a voice suddenly resounded in his head. He started enough to yank his hands from the alien, looking around for the sudden source of the voice. The alien waited patiently, hands still outstretched, until Dipper shyly replaced his hands in their grasp.

" Uh, hello?" he said, voice hoarse. The aliens at the other side of the room jumped at the sound. The tall one snarled again, but the one sitting with Dipper ignored it.

" _I do not wish to harm you,"_ the voice resounded in his head again. " _I need to do something... Will you allow me?"_

" Uh…" Dipper didn't know quite how to respond, but he didn't move away as the alien slowly let go of his hands only to gently place them at his temples. His heartbeat raced on the monitor.

Dipper shut his eyes as a presence rushed his mind. It felt the same as the unfamiliar voice that echoed through his mind mere moments before, but all encompassing. No other thought could cross his mind, as it was suddenly filled with another presence. He gasped at the sensation, but in an instant it was over. The long fingers were removed from his temple, and he sat for a moment, eyes still closed, dazed by the sensation.

"… you damn sure this thing ain't brain-dead? It was in that damn pod for a while."

"Have patience, Captain."

"I have been patient! Things been unconscious for how long and we find it can't even speak? I mean, fuck, we shouldn't have picked it up in the first place! We're in trouble enough as is without taking on another charity case."

Dipper came back to himself as the conversation on the other side of the room continued. The sudden sound of English words startled him, the voices unfamiliar but the words clear.

"Our only other option is putting him back out where we found him, Captain," the gentler of the two voices responded.

Dipper opened his eyes in time to see the tall alien wordlessly snarling in response. It crossed it's arms, flipping its head as if rolling it's eyes, a motion lost in the pure blackness of its eyes It turned just in time to meet Dipper's attentive gaze.

"You awake now, kid? Can you hear me?" it asked him sharply. Dipper's ears heard harsh snarling, but the words were clearly English in his head. Dipper found his voice caught in his throat, shuttered by a thrill of fear.

"Um, uh, yeah." He replied.

The tall alien perked up immediately. It bared its teeth in what could only be a frightening smile. "Finally! Didn't think you could talk!"

"How- how can I understand you?" Dipper blurted out, voice catching on the dryness of his throat. Moments before, all he could hear was unintelligible snarling, and now he could understand them clear as day.

" That would be my help," the alien still sitting beside him on the bed responded. "My name is Orthel. That is our Captain, and the one in the corner is Pidge."

The tall alien nodded their head towards Dipper, and the veiled alien waved enthusiastically.

"But, how?" Dipper asked again. The Captain and Orthel shared a look.

"I am a Tevantiel. My species can act as a universal translator. Have you never encountered us before?" Dipper shook his head. Orthel tilted their head, as if perplexed. "How strange. Most Ketan live in colonies on mixed planets."

"Ketan?" Dipper responded. The word felt strange on his lips.

"Yes, Ketan. Is that not your species?" Orthel replied.

"No," Dipper responded, somewhat lost. The unfamiliar words were starting to bounce around in his brain, like a rubber ball with no intention of finding a resting place.

The Captain made a sound not unlike a disdained snort. "I told you."

"And we had no way of knowing that without waiting for him to wake, now did we?" Though her veil hid their expression, Orthel's glare bled into their tone.

"Sure looks like one, though," The Captain mused, then asked, "What are you?"

All three aliens turned back towards him, and Dipper squirmed.

"A, a human?" Dipper said, though the word came out more like a question.

The Captain's eyes narrowed, and it stepped forward, further into the room, proving that they did, in fact, have two pairs of legs. It tilted its head, intense black eyes closely examining Dipper.

"Ya look quite a bit like a damned Ketan though."

The alien seemed so much larger when it wasn't standing at the very edge of the room. Dipper's brain blanked at the Captain's sudden approach. His eyes couldn't seem to leave the sharp glint of teeth poking out from the Captain's mouth. He must've sat there for at least a minute, frozen with fear, and couldn't even bring himself to even try to stutter a response.

The silence broke when Pidge suddenly shoved the Captain aside. The white clothed alien seemed pitifully small beside the Captain, but seemed very effective in their insistent shoving. Their gloved hands flashed about, in what could only be some kind of sign language. The words did not automatically translate into Dipper's head, but the other two aliens seemed to understand the signing. They remained attentive until Pidge finished gesturing. The Captain seemed ready to start an argument, but Orthel stood and placed a hand on its arm.

"Captain, now is not the time."

They huffed and turned to leave. Orthel remained for a few more moments, watching as the Captain's large quadruped form turned in the small room in order to exit through the door. They exited with surprising agility for their size, the last of their presence the slither of their tail through the door.

Orthel gently touched Dipper's hands again. "Pidge has asked us to leave so as to not agitate you more," Orthel said. "You need some time to recover from your ordeal."

Orthel made to leave, but before they could drop his hand, Dipper gripped theirs tight.

"Wait, I, there's so many questions I have to ask…" he said, anxiety seeping into his voice. Orthel returned the tightness of his grip, as if attempting to console him somewhat. Pidge crossed their arms and tapped their foot loudly.

"I'm sorry. Doctor's orders are you rest. You were suspended in an unstable stasis for some time, it is a miracle you're as well off as you are. We can speak more when you've gotten your strength up."

Suddenly the cold memory that had been lurking in the back of his mind since the arrival of the Captain and Orthel came back full force, and an involuntary shudder ran through his body. Orthel gave his hand another squeeze, and then gracefully swept out of the room. Pidge took their place by Dipper's side, taking his hand in their own version of a consoling touch. Dipper couldn't decide which was more comforting, the gentle touch of the alien fingers, or the enthusiastic pats of white leather. Given his situation, neither was very helpful.

Pidge patted his hand a few times, and then fussed with the blankets and pillows on the bed, gesturing for Dipper to lie back again. He complied, suddenly reminded of how exhausted and aching his body was as his brain reeled with the onslaught of terrifying information he had been given. Pidge pulled the blankets up across his chest, the edge of which Dipper immediately grabbed in his still aching hands.

Pidge fussed about the room for a few more moments, checking monitors, before finally heading towards the door. With the touch of a button the lights dimmed to a soft glow, and with a final wave Pidge left Dipper alone in the room.

Dipper stared at the ceiling, until his mind gave up processing the impossible situation was in and he drifted off to sleep.

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 **Hope you enjoyed chapter 2!**

 **Now that a small part of Dipper's situation has been brought into light, I wanted to explain a bit what this fanfiction will entail. I am intending the style of this fanfiction to be a bit drabble-y, more about snapshots of the new state of Dipper and Mabel's lives. There is a linear plot that will take place throughout the chapters, but it will get to a point where the chapters will take on an arc-like style. The timeline will be linear, but it may occasionally jump forward timeline wise. I will not be describing every single day in the life of these characters, but focusing on important moments and events. We will be returning to Mabel's side of things regularly as well as Dipper's.**

 **I will try to update at least every other weekend, but I cannot guarantee a steady update schedule.**

 **Thank you for reading! See you soon!**

 **-Missa**


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